I have this bug with Aveline. At the first sign of danger she goes into retaliation mode - even when told not to. It means that rather than saving squishy little rogue Hawke after she's delivered her two mighty blows, Aveline stands some 20 meters away, waiting... Apparently for Hawke to die and the enemies to come for her.
It's... I just... Aveline, I love you, but I can't bring you anywhere.

@Inxerene: I play PC too, but walls haven't been a problem, so there's that at least.

@Almightyra: Hey now, clearly that's a Hawke piñata. Because that is how I get treated when no warrior comes to save me after those first two strong attacks.

@Yarisse: That she is. She's taken on bosses and their lesser hordes essentially on her own, because everyone else on the team died almost instantly, and won. So I WANT to bring her, but she requires that I control her all the time or she just... stands there... letting everyone die...

Never had this problem, actually. I did have lots and lots of stair case bugs/teleporting bugs in ME3, but no bugs in DA2. Not that I know of anyway! I'm going to keep a close eye on Aveline next time i play DA2.
I can see why this is a problem for the more.. squishy kind of Hawke, though!

I remember an odd bug I ran into was that Anders would have his heal spell ready, but not use it even when set to healer mode. This, coupled with the long cooldown's of potions, got me killed a few times.

Side-note: I love how the Warden in DA:O could knock back potions like no one's business, but Hawke has to wait a whole minute before he can use another.

I have a similar gripe with Varric... not a bug, but he's pretty much useless as a trap detector. I mean, my rogue Hawke bellows "Trap!" at the top of their lungs as soon as there's something fishy on the ground, but Varric?

@zenat: *laughs* Glad I'm not the only one... I felt mightily stupid for taking so long to figure out what the "ruin my boots" comment meant.

Guess there's a "I want to strangle my companion mid-battle"-moment for each of them. Fenris for instance has a knack for going berserk and storming off on a wild goose chase in multi-leveled dungeons because his acute elven vision made out an enemy somewhere below.

P.S.: Shame on me for not commenting earlier... I have been following your comic for a few weeks now, and it brightens my Monday morning every time. Thank you so much, guys!

I play computer and this happens all the time, though I never realized it was a bug. Suppose I just thought that was Aveline's thing, since she's the only character I ever have that plays my true tank, but now that I know...I will make sure I yell at her next time I play.

Hahaha, nice Hawke piñata! Aveline does the same with me once in a while, but then again, as I most often played a female mage, I just have Hawke stand back a little and blast enemies with her spells. So I sort of keep her company in the back. xD

Anyway, this is why I usually use Fenris for melee too. Once you level up his special abilities and give him a nice sword, he just cuts through everything. Nothing like having a party member that takes care of most of the hard work. :3

@SpaghettiNoose: Haha, well XD I've solved the problem by simply not letting her learn retaliate anymore. I mean, it's good and all, but I'd much prefer to keep my party alive.

@Bansheebot: Yeah, I prefer the dual wielders too. They hit multiple targets when they zoom in to rescue my rogue behind XD

@Lorac: Haha, oh I remember Baldur's Gate... and the rogues who wouldn't do their job, letting the entire party die because they couldn't detect traps properly :I
Mass Effect spoiled me. I never bother telling the companions what to do there (aside from the odd ability in times of great need), and they normally do just fine XD

@ Zenat: In Baldur's Gate there was a chance depending on how you specialised your rogue how efficient he was in detecting traps. Since most of us went for lockpicking first...most rogues were bad at detecting traps, because Baldur's Gate had a very low level cap.
Adding to this, that roges had one chance every round(6 seconds) to detect traps and had chances between 30% at low levels and 80% at higher levels...one was mostly screwed.
The only way to find most traps in a dungeon was to move every 12-18 seconds for approximately the(very small) distance rogues were able to detect traps.
Sometimes I stood about a minute near a chest because I KNEW there was a trap, but my rogue just didn't find it. Oo
In Baldur'S Gate 2 this was solved because the characters just had higher levels and had every thieving skill at 100% or higher. XD

I saw Mass Effect effectively more as a shooter instead of an RPG...
Although I even give ability commands in Mass Effect as soon as units appear on the battlefield, that aren't just cannon fodder.^^
I allways control my NPCs, because NPC AI for most RPGs can't handle anything properly. XD

I've not had this problem, but I think I have it set so she only does it if surrounded by 4 enemies or something. In any case, I lean more on the squad tactics or whatever it is where she steals threat and damage taken from everyone combined with some fancy shield charges and bashes and such while Varric snipes the planet.
This did not end well for me when she turned on me in the dream, leaving my mage and Varric alone against the party tank. The battle turned into me running around crying while summoning Dog over and over and spamming crushing prison. Did you know that she can shield charge constantly while chasing someone? I didn't. It was terrifying.